February 24, 2026
After being told he is ineligible to play college sports, he is appealing the decision but wants to play the rest of the season, which ends next month.
Less than two months after a judge ruled that he was not eligible to play college sports, Alabama basketball player Charles Bediako has returned to court, requesting that he be allowed to play the rest of the basketball season while his appeal is pending.
According to ESPN, attorneys for Bediako have filed an appeal on Feb. 23 in Tuscaloosa of the decision by Circuit Court Judge Daniel Pruet, who ruled that Bediako did not have a “reasonable expectation” to return to the college ranks, as no other player before him had been given that opportunity after playing professional sports.
But, in the meantime, as the college basketball season is winding down, Bediako’s lawyers are asking the Alabama Supreme Court to give the player “interim injunctive relief” so he can play the rest of the season for the University of Alabama.
“Injunctive relief is warranted while Plaintiff’s appeal to the Alabama Supreme Court is pending,” it states in the motion of his appeal. Not allowing him to play (the regular season ends March 7, with the postseason ending April 6) “will become moot without interim relief” as the appeal “is unlikely to resolve before the season concludes.”
Bediako, who played for Alabama from 2021 to 2023, made himself eligible for the NBA Draft. He signed a two-way NBA contract and played the last three seasons in the G League.
After the judge granted him a temporary restraining order earlier this year, allowing Bediako to return to the basketball court, Judge Pruet denied the basketball player’s motion for a preliminary injunction on Feb. 9, effectively ending his college basketball career, again. Bediako has played in five games, averaging 10 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks a game.
The University of Alabama feels the rules are unfair, since several foreign players have been granted the right to play in college even after playing professionally overseas. Several G League players were deemed eligible, including James Nnaji, a 2023 NBA draft pick, who was allowed to play this season.
RELATED CONTENT: Minding Our Own Business: How Garveyism Imagined Pan-African Identity
